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Never Winter Nights (Continued) |
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Written by Dick Davies
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Wednesday, 07 February 2007 |
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Never Winter Nights is again in the news. This time it is in dramtically improving literacy and numercy scores in teenagers. (This parallels my own experience in using multiplayer competitive team gaming with young adults): The BBC quotes "For example, before they set off in their galleon they have to fill it with the things they are going to need. This requires them to work out the area of the ship and how much they can manage to bring. “Some students managed it, others sank on the way and never progressed to the next level.“They would come knocking on the staff room door and wouldn’t let us go until we had taught them how to calculate area.”
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The Resistors |
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Written by Dick Davies
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Wednesday, 07 February 2007 |
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This looks worth a visit - The Resistors - the use of interactive 3D technology to present a number of science equipment and experiments in an immersive way."This was in some ways a first attempt to see if experiments and science concepts could be experienced in an immersive way online ( especially when compared to some 2D flash experiments that exist online ), so that all students could benefit, even if the school doesn't have enough working equipment for every student in the class - this is more common than you might think, based on feedback from teachers!" via SG Listserv
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 February 2007 )
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Playing with Our Heads:Why Video Games are Making our Kids Smarter-and more obedient |
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Written by Dick Davies
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Wednesday, 10 January 2007 |
Thoughful article by Chris Suellentrop in UTNE working his way through the literature and in particular arguing that digital immigrants, especially non-gamers, misunderstand completely the nature of gaming - "Nongamers often assume that video games, like so many electronic media, are designed to deliver instant electronic gratification. The opposite is the case, Johnson insists in Everything Bad Is Good for You. The best video games are brilliantly designed puzzles. The Grand Theft Auto titles can take as long as 60 hours to complete. Finishing them requires discipline, problem solving, decision making, and repeated trial and error"
He quotes Will Wright, developer of the Sims, who "proposes that video games teach "the essence of the scientific method," that "through trial and error, players build a model of the underlying game." To succeed, a player must establish a hypothesis about some aspect of the game, test it, and evaluate the results of the experiment. The organizer of a playground game explains the rules in advance, but a video game often hides its rules, revealing them only as the player figures out how to unlock the game's secrets. And when that happens, a game player can experience an ecstatic Archimedes moment."
His end point is relax as "Gamers are famous for coming up with creative approaches to the problems a game presents. But devising a new, unexpected strategy to succeed under the existing rules isn't the same thing as proposing new rules, new systems, or new patterns." Well worth reading in full.
Via Serious Games Listserv
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Last Updated ( Monday, 15 January 2007 )
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